FKATWIGSRELEASES “CELLOPHANE, LIVE AT THEWALLACECOLLECTION”
In April, FKA twigs returned with her first new music in over three years in the form of new single “Cellophane.” The song, her most vulnerable and connective to date, was accompanied by her most ambitious and powerful video yet, in collaboration with director Andrew Thomas Huang. Together they provided an enticing glimpse of what to expect of FKA twigs’ second album; the follow up to her Mercury Prize and Brit Award nominated LP1.

“twigs’ delicate voice is just impossibly moving here. In between short gasps, she sings uncomplicated words that seem drenched with complicated feelings…. But by the end of the song, her falsetto soars, calling upon a philosophy that twigs has often invoked in her songwriting: Vulnerability is your greatest strength” – Pitchfork (Best New Track)

This week, FKA twigs revealed a stunning live version of “Cellophane.” “Cellophane, Live At The Wallace Collection” features twigs’ first ever live piano performance. Directed by twigs herself, the intimacy of the performance strikes a deep contrast with the conceptual scale of Huang’s original video. Filmed in London’s renowned The Wallace Collection, a place that has long inspired both twigs and one of her favourite designers, Vivienne Westwood. In celebration of both the iconic space, and the designer she admires, twigs is seen wearing pieces from her own collection of vintage Westwood.

VELVETNEGRONIANNOUNCESALBUMNEONBROWN + SHARESVIDEOFORSINGLE “CONFETTI”
Minneapolis-based experimental R&B vocalist and songwriter Velvet Negroni announced his debut album NEONBROWN, to be released August 30th on 4AD. The news was accompanied by the first single from the album, “CONFETTI”.

Velvet Negroni is the alter-ego of creative polymath Jeremy Nutzman. Raised in an outer suburb of the Twin Cities, Jeremy – a black kid adopted into a white evangelical Christian family – split his formative years between classical piano lessons and late night jam sessions. A duality that permeates every corner of his music, with forthcoming album NEONBROWN thriving in the borderlands between indie rock and R&B. Since touring with close friend Bon Iver, Nutzman notched writing credits for Kanye West and Kid Cudi ahead of his debut single releases on 4AD imprint b4 in 2018. Now, alongside prolific co-producer Psymun (Young Thug, Juice WLRD, The Weeknd), Nutzman’s new releases transcend the borders between his often polarized influences, bringing R&B slow jams and nods to hometown hero Prince with guitar licks and full band energy.

The FADER premiered the Isaac Gale & Jeremy Nutzman-directed video for “CONFETTI”, saying “Lush in its atmosphere but brutally cold in its delivery, ‘CONFETTI’ is a warped invitation into the gorgeous contradictions of Velvet Negroni”.

COMINGJUNE 7 : SONICYOUTH – BATTERYPARK, NYC: JULY 4, 2008
On June 7, Matador will be reissuing Sonic Youth’s Battery Park, NYC: July 4, 2008. Initially sold as a bonus item alongside the 2009 release of the band’s final album, The Eternal, the live recording will now be available on streaming services and as a stand-alone physical package for the first time ever. Culled from their show at Battery Park’s River To River Festival (and broadcast live on WFMU), the setlist spans the band’s 30-year career.

THENATIONAL – I AM EASY TO FINDOUTNOWVIA 4AD
On September 3rd 2017, director Mike Mills emailed singer Matt Berninger to introduce himself and in very short order, the most ambitious project of the National’s nearly 20-year career was born and plans for a hard-earned vacation died. The Los Angeles-based filmmaker was coming off his third feature, 20th Century Women, and was interested in working with the band on… something. A video maybe. Berninger, already a fan of Mills’ films, not only agreed to collaborate, he essentially handed over the keys to the band’s creative process.

The result is I Am Easy to Find, a 24-minute film by Mills starring Alicia Vikander, and I Am Easy to Find, a 68-minute album by the National (their eighth studio album). The former is not the video for the latter; the latter is not the soundtrack to the former. The two projects are, as Mills calls them, “Playfully hostile siblings that love to steal from each other” — they share music and words and DNA and impulses and a vision about what it means to be human in 2019, but don’t necessarily need one another. The movie was composed like a piece of music; the music was assembled like a film, by a film director. The frontman and natural focal point was deliberately and dramatically sidestaged in favor of a variety of female voices, nearly all of whom have long been in the group’s orbit – Gail Ann Dorsey, Sharon Van Etten, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Lisa Hannigan, Mina Tindle and more. It is unlike anything either artist has ever attempted and also totally in line with how they’ve created for much of their careers.

“With a cast of female vocalists guiding and redirecting the songs, the National’s eighth album is their largest, longest, and most daring.” – Pitchfork

JARV IS… SHARES “MUST I EVOLVE”MUST I EVOLVE?
Yes you must – you really must.

WHATHAVE I MISSED?JARV IS… a band featuring Jarvis Cocker, Serafina Steer, Emma Smith, Andrew McKinney, Jason Buckle & Adam Betts.JARV IS… played their first show at the Sigur Ros “Norður og Niður” festival in Iceland at the very end of 2017.JARV IS… then played a sell-out tour of caverns & tiny venues in the UK in Spring 2018. On April 7th they played a concert in Peak Cavern, Derbyshire & most of the music on this single was recorded that night.JARV IS… went to the USA for an appearance at the Desert Daze festival last October 12th, preceded by a short run of West-Coast dates. The festival site was evacuated shortly after their set due to a massive electrical storm.JARV IS… play All Points East on May 25th & then head to the Primavera Festival. On June 4th they are playing in a cave in Ibiza (can you detect a pattern emerging here?).

WHATELSE DO I NEED TO KNOW?
This single will only be available to buy at live shows. JARV IS… primarily a live experience.

INTERPOL – A FINEMESS EP OUTNOW
Interpol today release new EP A Fine Mess on Matador Records, including new focus track and sought-after live favorite “Real Life,” first heard during the band’s Turn On The Bright Lights 15th anniversary tour in 2017.

Recorded during time spent in upstate New York with Dave Fridmann, the five songs that make up A Fine Mess gradually emerged as a body of work with a narrative and flow unto itself. The title track, “Fine Mess,” then received further production from Kaines & Tom A.D. and mixing from Claudius Mittendorfer, who had first worked with Interpol as engineer on Our Love To Admire. The resulting set is a living, breathing postcard from the band to their fans as they tour the world throughout 2019, and a linear continuation of the visceral and contagious energy set loose with Marauder.MOREINFO/TOUR DATES

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BLACKMIDIANNOUNCESCHLAGENHEIM
London-based band black midi – “an exciting new force in the world of post-punk” (SPIN) – this week announced their debut full-length, Schlagenheim, produced by Dan Carey and due June 21st via Rough Trade Records . Throughout, black midi — Geordie Greep (vocals/guitar), Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin (vocals/guitar), Cameron Picton (vocals/bass), and Morgan Simpson (drums) — have a dynamic energy, playing as a musical unit that’s constantly in a state of flux and development.

The foursome comprising black midi are all 19 and 20 years of age and have backgrounds steeped in music. Simpson grew up in a church and took up the drums when he was two. Greep started out playing along to the likes of Black Sabbath on “the OG” Guitar Hero. They all met at the Brit School, and praise their education for giving them a vital grounding in musical collaboration. While studying, the group paid their way by teaching music and doing sessions for friends. Greep and Kwasniewski-Kelvin would busk in south-east London, on some days playing Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” or blues and soul tracks, and on others playing their own music.

The band has promised that in a few years time, the music of black midi will be unrecognizable from how it is now. “It’s a bit bold, but you’ve got to set yourself challenges, there’s no point doing the same thing over and over again,” says Greep.MOREINFO/TOUR DATES

HOLLYHERNDON – PROTO – OUTNOWVIA 4AD
Holly Herndon’s third full-length album PROTO is out today. Previously released tracks include the vocal tour de force of “Frontier,” the skittering beatbox of “Godmother” [featuring Jlin and Spawn], and the euphoric ghostly transmission of “Eternal,” which earned Best New Track from Pitchfork.

PROTO isn’t about A.I., but much of it was created in collaboration with her own A.I. ‘baby’, Spawn. In addition to Spawn, Holly assembled a contemporary ensemble of vocalists, developers, and guest contributors (Jenna Sutela, Jlin, Lily Anna Haynes, Martine Syms) to create a record that encompasses live vocal processing and timeless folk singing, and places an emphasis on alien song craft and new forms of communion.

PROTO makes reference to what Holly refers to as the protocol era, where rapidly surfacing ideological battles over the future of A.I. protocols, centralized and decentralized internet protocols, and personal and political protocols compel us to ask ourselves who are we, what are we, what do we stand for, and what are we heading towards?

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Hannah Rodgers, the mastermind behind Pixx, releases third single “Andean Condor” from her forthcoming album, Small Mercies (out June 7th via 4AD). A tongue-in-cheek album opener, she muses on gender politics – “mature males tend to be at the top of the pecking order” – inspired by the world’s largest flying bird.

“This song is written about the link between wo/mankind and nature,” Rodgers says. “It is important to recognise how many times women have to face the absurdity of male hierarchy in our modern world. Having had endless conversations with (certain) men who justify the inequality of the sexes by comparing themselves to animals, I thought what better way to help them than to remind those men that they are supposed to be human, with emotional capability and growth.”

“Andean Condor” follows the singles “Bitch” and “Disgrace” and are all taken from the second Pixx album, Small Mercies. Small Mercies is a series of poetic examinations of love across the experiential spectrum, from the micro (self-love) to the macro (devotional faith-inspired love, love for this planet), all set to a soundtrack that mixes electronic pop and grungy guitar rock with aplomb. It follows the 23 year-old’s debut album, The Age Of Anxiety (2017) – an unsettling synth-pop record fuelled by Pixx’s own debilitating experience of angst – and 2015’s forlorn and folk-edged Fall In EP.LISTEN/WATCH/MORE INFO
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STARCRAWLERSHARE “SHEGETSAROUND” VIDEO
Starcrawler have shared a cinematically visceral music video for single “She Gets Around”, which was released in February on Rough Trade Records. Directed by Gilbert Trejo, it features frontwoman Arrow de Wilde channelling her inner Ozzy Osbourne as a suspended, manic angel. “‘She Gets Around,’ at its core, is a song about losing faith in someone,” explain de Wilde and Trejo. “It’s about building someone up in your own head, deifying them, only to have that mental image destroyed in seconds. Not everyone is actually an angel, and sometimes we have to destroy our own marble, saccharine image of them in order to move on. Crow bars and baseball bats make it easier.”

Starcrawler will reveal the details of their sophomore LP in the coming weeks, on the heels of their massive singles “She Gets Around” and “Hollywood Ending,” which spent several weeks at #1 on specialty radio and earned praise from the likes of NPR Music, Rolling Stone, i-D and more. The band was also commissioned to cover the Ramones’ 1989 single “Pet Sematary” for the end credits of the recent Paramount Pictures film Pet Sematary, based on the iconic Stephen King novel.LISTEN/WATCH/TOUR DATES
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Their first record for 4AD, U.F.O.F. was recorded in rural western Washington at Bear Creek Studios. In a large cabin-like room, the band set up their gear to track live with engineer Dom Monks and producer Andrew Sarlo, who was also behind their previous albums. Having already lived these songs on tour, they were relaxed and ready to experiment. The raw material came quickly. Some songs were written only hours before recording and stretched out instantly, first take, vocals and all.

“Making friends with the unknown… All my songs are about this,” says Lenker; “If the nature of life is change and impermanence, I’d rather be uncomfortably awake in that truth than lost in denial.”

“The alien abduction that happens in the lyrics is nearly as strange and beautiful as the one that happens in the music” – Pitchfork (Best New Track for “Cattails” and “UFOF”)MOREINFO

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The National recently announced their eighth studio album I Am Easy To Find, due out May 17th on 4AD, and the companion short film of the same name written by Academy Award-nominated director Mike Mills (20th Century Women, Beginners), and starring Academy Award Winner Alicia Vikander. This week, the band released album track “Hairpin Turns,” featuring Gail Ann Dorsey and Lisa Hannigan, alongside a Mills directed music video with vocal performances from Dorsey, Mina Tindle, Kate Stables and featuring dancer Sharon Eyal, co-founder, co-artistic director and choreographer of L-E-V Dance Group.

To celebrate the release of the new record and short film, The National have announced a number of worldwide screening and listening events in the week commencing May 6th. These will give fans across the world their first chance to hear the new album and watch Mike Mills’ short film in cinema quality. LISTEN/WATCH/MORE INFO
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HOLLYHERNDONSHARESNEWSONG “FRONTIER”
Holly Herndon brings the full force of her vocal ensemble to the fore with new single “Frontier” and accompanying visuals by Darío Alva. An interpretation of Appalachian Sacred Harp music, the song considers a “Frontier” of green or of dust – the consequences of the choices we make as a society. “Frontier” follows the euphoric “Eternal” and skittering beatbox of “Godmother” [featuring Jlin and Spawn], all taken from her third album, PROTO, out May 10th via 4AD.

“At a Sacred Harp meet up, the singers sit in a square or circle, facing each other and singing loudly a capella,” Holly explains. “When I stood in the middle of one, I started crying because it was so incredible.”

PROTO isn’t about A.I., but much of it was created in collaboration with her own A.I. ‘baby’, Spawn. PROTO makes reference to what Holly refers to as the protocol era, where rapidly surfacing ideological battles over the future of A.I. protocols, centralised and decentralised internet protocols, and personal and political protocols compel us to ask ourselves who are we, what are we, what do we stand for, and what are we heading towards? LISTEN/WATCH
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BLACKMIDIPRESENTNEWSINGLE “TALKINGHEADS”
black midi, the enigmatic London-based four-piece that “are less interested in proving themselves the future of indie rock than in imagining indie rock from the future” (Pitchfork), this week presented new single, “Talking Heads”. Alongside the band’s recently shared single, “Crow’s Perch,” “Talking Heads” will be released as a double A-side 12” this month via Rough Trade.

“Talking Heads” is a calculated intensity, driven by frenzied percussion, bright, vivacious guitar, and fitful vocals. “We’ve always tried to make it heavy but danceable, melodic but good rhythms,” says vocalist and guitarist, Geordie Greep. “It is accessible music, there are experimental aspects that we’ve taken from when we went crazy at the beginning, we’ve just reigned it in to make something that is pop music.”

-Must have minimum 2-3 years experience as a full time publicist working with a diverse range of musical genres
-Lead US press campaigns including tour press, tv bookings, public radio and other opportunities while coordinating closely with UK publicists and staff
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